The Hunter and the Hunted
by CertifiedNutso
Summary: Maya is the sister of Kaien Cross, headmaster Of Cross Academy and ex-vampire hunter. How will her life turn when she falls for a certain blue eyed vampire & how will she react when an old love returns? Crappy summary but please give it a chance x Rated M for scenes of graphic violence at stages
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

The night air was cool on Maya's skin. It was a welcome feeling after a hard days work in the infirmary. The kids at this school were serious hypochondriacs. Anything from a cold to a paper cut and straight to the infirmary. She was exhausted.

It was hard work being the academy nurse _and_ part of the disciplinary committee, but that's just what you got saddled with if you were lucky enough to be the younger sister of Kaien Cross, headmaster of Cross Academy. But at least now, after the chaos of curfew for the day class, it was finally quiet. She hadn't even caught anyone sneaking out tonight.  
'_A good omen, surely,' _she thought to herself. She paced around a secluded part of the school grounds. It was a small garden which she had helped Kaien plant, one of her favourite places on the grounds. Barely any of the students knew it existed making it a nice place to escape to.

_Ring! Ring!  
'Never a dull moment.' _She thought sourly_. _Sighing she answered her phone hoping not to see the name she expected. '_Damn,' _she should be so lucky. Rolling her eyes she answered the phone to Kaname Kuran, president of the night class. The vampires.

"I was having such a good night as well Kaname, what is it?" she said, an edge of humour to her voice. Some of the night class students cringed at the way she spoke to Kaname. He was a pureblood vampire, the highest of ranks in the vampire community and must be treated as such. But to Maya he was just an old family friend, plus Kaname never seemed to mind the way she was anyway. He forced a small laugh on the other end of the phone,

"There has been an incident involving Aido Hanabusa and two day class girls. We have erased their memories and would appreciate if you would meet us in the infirmary immediately."  
"I'll be there as soon as I can." she replied, hanging up the phone. Aido was always causing her trouble. He just couldn't help disrupting the peace at the academy. Most of the time Maya thought that he didn't even do it for the blood of the students, just to cause some mischief. It made her laugh but she knew Kaname enforced strict punishments.

Upon entering the infirmary, Maya was expecting to see two day class girls lay in two of the beds in the infirmary but she was greeted by only Kaname and a sheepish looking Aido.  
"Where are the girls?" she asked, removing her coat. She glanced at Kaname quick enough to see him shoot a stern look towards Aido.  
"They weren't injured," he replied through gritted teeth, having a lot of difficulty maintaining his composure, "However Aido here is in need of more blood tablets as his supply is evidently running out." he shot another look at Aido causing him to look at the floor. "If you will excuse me, I have other matters that need my attention. Goodnight." He left in a gust of air. Maya had barely blinked before she was alone in the room with the golden haired boy.  
_'That was awfully… strange,' _she thought to herself. Kaname never lost his cool, ever. Maybe Aido's antics were beginning to irritate him more than usual?

Regaining her usual cheerful mood, Maya started towards the medicine cabinet behind her desk.  
"Sooo, been up to your usual tricks have we Hanabusa-san?" she said, giggling to herself. Aido's nervous expression made her laugh. What did he expect Kaname to act like after he broke the rules? He had been in this position so many times he should be immune to it by now. "You can relax," She continued, "Kaname has gone." Maya continued to rifle through her medicine cabinet, looking for her supply of blood tablets. She finally found one box hidden at the back,  
'_I could have sworn I had another box or two here' _She thought. She stood momentarily in thought, staring at her medicine cabinet until Aido managed to speak, something he rarely struggled to do.

"Kaname-sama is really mad at me this time." He muttered, staring into space. Maya sighed, looking at Aido's guilty expression. Though she didn't need to look at his face to know how he was feeling. She could practically hear his thoughts in her head. He was panicked and pretty much mentally hyperventilating. Bringing him out of his trance, Maya grasped his hand, placing the blood tablets in his palm. Aido glanced at them before moving his gaze to Maya.  
"How was tonight any different than your usual trouble making Hanabusa-san?" She smiled, trying to inject a little humour into the situation. Aido not smiling was like an Oreo without any cream, just plain wrong. He looked at the ground, shifting his feet slightly before mumbling his response,  
"I bit Yuki." Maya's eyes widened with surprise. No wonder Kaname was so angry. It was no secret that Kaname had more than a soft spot for Yuki. He was the one that had brought her to Maya and Kaien so many years ago. Though Maya was almost as young as Yuki was back then she could still remember it very well. Ever since that night Kaname had visited Yuki often, he was the biggest part of her life. Aido saw Maya's shocked expression and immediately attempted to somewhat redeem himself,  
"I only bit her hand though!" He exclaimed, jumping up onto his feet, his eyes manic.  
Looking at him, his wide eyes, his hands running through his hair and his overall terrified demeanour Maya couldn't help it. She laughed. Hard. Aido didn't know what to do except stare at the nurse dumbfounded until after a while, he couldn't help but laugh a little too. Aido panicking was one of the funniest things Maya had seen, probably because it was such a rare thing to see. Aido was a lot of things, funny, cheerful, annoying and sometimes serious, but he never panicked like a housewife who had left her iron on.

After what seemed like forever, they both finally stopped laughing. Aido had returned to his seat whilst Maya had all but fell off of hers. Calming down Aido turned to Maya,  
"So, are you not mad?" Maya hadn't thought about it like that. She should be mad, after all Yuki was like her sister but on the other hand, they shared a school with _vampires._ As hard as it was to think about, things like this were bound to happen at some point.  
"Well," Began Maya, "Technically, I should be kicking your ass right now," She shot a playful grin at Aido who feigned terror much to Maya's delight, "But seeing as Yuki didn't get brought to me, you can't have hurt her that bad. I'm just going to have to keep an eye on you more from now on Hanabusa-san." Maya grinned and so did Aido. She could tell he had calmed down a lot compared to how he was when he came in and was glad she had helped. Looking at the clock Maya saw that it read 4:30. "It's gonna be light anytime soon Aido, you better get back to your dorm." When she said this Aido jumped from his seat, like he had almost forgotten that he had spent the best part of the night stuck in the infirmary with her.  
"Ah, right, I better go, thanks Maya-chan" He beamed, shooting her one last brilliant smile before departing.

4:30. That gave Maya a good three, maybe four hours sleep before she had to get up again.  
_'I really need to get Kaien to pay me more' _She thought sarcastically to herself before retreating to her room for some well deserved rest.


	2. Chapter 2

It had been days since the incident with Yuki and Aido. Yuki hadn't seemed phased by what had happened but, that was Yuki. Not many people noticed just how much of a thick skin she had, but then again, not many people knew what kind of a life she had. When your life was filled with the monsters from fairy tales, it took a lot to break you.

* * *

Maya had gone to look for Yuki the morning after the incident. She had a rather small bandage around her hand indicating that Maya had been right, Aido hadn't hurt her much. After a brief conversation between the two Maya had been ready to go back to the infirmary before Yuki had asked to speak to her privately before her classes begun. Both girls went to sit in the main courtyard of the academy. Some students bustled about but it was still fairly early so most wouldn't be on their way to class just yet.

"What's the matter Yuki?" Maya had asked, concerned. Yuki sat silent for a while. Every so often she would open her mouth as if to speak, but quickly closed it again, looking for the right words to express what was wrong.  
Maya stared, silently, at the girl next to her, whom Maya had considered for years to be her sister, one of her best friends in a way. She grew up with Yuki and knew her like the back of her hand. But the girl she looked at now was nothing but a ghost of that girl.  
She was smaller, skinnier, shrinking away from the world. Shaking with worry, eyes wide with fear.

Eventually, Yuki spoke.

"I think there's something wrong with Zero." She had said, softly.  
Maya was slightly taken aback. The way Yuki was, she had expected the worst. Though as she looked at Yuki, who had kept her head down the entire time, she could she that she really was concerned. It worried Maya, deep inside. She placed her hand on Yuki's arm, willing her to elaborate. Yuki shuffled her feet slightly, before continuing.

"I barely see him anymore." She said, almost whispering. "And when I do, he never says anything. He never looks at me. I don't see him eat, I don't see him drink. I don't even think he's sleeping." Her voice had slowly begun to rise and quicken in pace as she became more hysterical. Maya rubbed her shoulder softly to calm her.  
"I go to check on him at night sometimes, he's never in his room." She raised her hands, shaking them in an erratic fashion. Her face twisted in confusion and frustration. With a large sigh she dropped her head into her hands. Maya could barely hear her as she spoke again.  
"He doesn't even turn up to class anymore."

The air was silent around the two girls for a while afterwards. Both of them pondering over what had just been said.  
Yuki had stopped shaking, her chest feeling lighter than it had done before.  
Maya on the other hand, felt the exact opposite. She had always been a huge part of Yuki and Zero's lives. When did she suddenly become so distant that she noticed none of this? She looked at Yuki, who was now sitting upright, her face brighter. She felt a pang of guilt in her chest. She had let them down. Both of them. She should have been the first to notice anything wrong and she didn't.  
Yuki looked at Maya expectantly, awaiting her to give her a solution to her predicament. Maya sighed softly.

"You're going to be late, Yuki" She said, "Go to class, don't worry, I'll go find Zero and talk to him." Though she felt like she should be doing more for her this seemed a perfect solution for Yuki, who was now beaming.  
After thanking Maya, Yuki quickly set off for her class, one she wasn't going to be late for, for once.

Luckily for Maya, the usual horde of hypochondriac students was a small one today. Grabbing her pager in case she was needed, she locked the infirmary and headed off to find Zero, choosing to search the grounds rather than the classrooms.

It didn't take her as long as she thought it would to find him.

In the outermost stall of the stables was a horse named White-Lily. A white horse with an incredibly hostile temperament. The students are all mostly frightened of her, but she seemed to have a soft spot for Zero. And him for her. When Maya found the pair Zero was sat in a pile of hay, chatting quietly with his good friend. Though White-Lily was visibly unhappy at Maya's intrusion, Zero never lifted his head.  
A heavy silence drifted in the air.

Maya waited, not wanting to disturb Zero from whatever train of thought he may have had. She realised, after a while, that what she really wanted was for him to make the first move, to reach out to her for help. The pang in her chest returned. She had been blind to their lives but looking at Zero shown her, just as much as Yuki had, that she had failed them.

He looked like death.  
Like anger and fear.  
His eyes were sunken and his cheeks were hollow.  
He looked like he hadn't slept for years.

To the dismay of White-Lily, Maya made her way over to the boy in the hay. She thought it wise not to reach out and hold him.

"You've been missing a lot of classes you know, Zero." She said. It came out forced, almost awkward. She mentally scolded herself before continuing, Zero all the while pretending she wasn't there.  
"Yuki's worried about you, you're scaring her." Zero lifted his head slightly, but said nothing.  
"She told me, you're not eating, you're not sleeping. You ignore her. You're skipping classes. It's like you're trying to make yourself disappear." Maya, suddenly desperate for an answer, turned to Zero, pulling him by his shoulders to face her.

He let her pull him.  
Limp. Numb.

"I want to help you Zero. I need to help but I-" She struggled for the words to describe her mixed up thoughts.  
"You have to tell me what's going on! If you do, I can make this better."

Without warning, Zero ripped himself from Maya's grip, walking to the other end of the stall, as far away as he could get.

"Make this better?" He said, almost mocking her words.  
"Make this better? What if you can't make this better Maya?!" He screamed at her and she couldn't help but shrink away from him as he came back towards where she sat, still in the hay.  
"Did you ever think that this might be something that you can't fix with your fucking medicine cabinet?! You have absolutely no idea what is going on."

"So tell me." She pleaded, standing up to face him properly.

"Why should I tell you?" He whispered, retreating back away from her.  
"You won't understand"

"How do you know that I won't?" She said defiantly. He lunged himself forwards, grasping her by the shoulders, shaking her.

"Because you don't care Maya!" Zero's eyes were hard with anger but Maya could see he was holding back tears.  
She couldn't hold back. She let the tears flow down her cheeks, her chest in agony.

"You know I care Zero," Her voice broke slightly.  
"How could you say I don't care, I love you"

"No you don't! You came here because of Yuki. You didn't notice, you never took the time to notice Maya. Do you even know me anymore?" Maya's shoulders began to throb slightly under Zero's grip. He stared at her intently, waiting for her answer.  
She didn't back down.

"You're Zero Kiryu. The person who tells me stories in the night and cooks for me when Kaien's cooking is too unbearable. The quiet little boy who I cared for and grew up with. Who grew into this amazing, kind and intelligent young man who has his whole life ahead of him. My little brother." Zero dropped his head, relaxing his hands on Maya's shoulders. They stood there, motionless, for what seemed like an eternity.  
Eventually he walked past Maya and she did nothing to stop him.

"Your little brother has gone, Maya." He whispered.

After a while, Maya had managed to pull herself away from the stables, confident Zero wasn't returning to somehow change what had just happened.

She felt lost and almost alone. She knew he wasn't lying to her. Her little brother was slowly slipping away. She could have cried out in frustration. Not knowing just what was going through Zero's mind. The fact he thought she didn't care, the fact he felt he couldn't speak to her anymore. It killed her a little inside. She felt hollow.

Though she didn't feel it at the moment in time, Maya was a little lucky. There were no patients to deal with right now and no one had tried to reach her. She could be alone for a little while.  
Strangely, she thought, she found herself thinking of Aido, of the night in the infirmary when they spent the good part of an hour laughing at him. She yearned for his company to pull her out of her new-found depression.

When she got back to the infirmary a strange feeling washed over her. She could have sworn she had locked the door. She was positive she did. One time she had left It unlocked for an hour at the most and some students had stolen cough syrup from her. Needless to say Kaien was not pleased so she knew It was a mistake she was unlikely to make again.

Slowly she opened the door, peering inside to see if anyone was there. A faint rustling could be heard from inside and what sounded like someone going through her medicine cabinet.  
Maya pushed the rest of the door open with as much force as she could, taking whomever was sneaking around in her infirmary by surprise.

To her own surprise, it was Kaien, looking like a child with his hand in the cookie jar.

"Maya! My sweet baby sister! I was just looking for erm-" Maya watched as her rather flamboyant older brother, now rather flustered, flailed around her desk, stumbling over his words to try to explain why he was sneaking around her medicines.

"Looking for what Kaien?" She asked with a slight smirk in her voice. Though she was far from the best of moods it cheered her up slightly to witness her brothers antics. Kaien's eyes darted everywhere searching for his answer until he found it on the floor. He lunged for the box of aspirin at his feet.

"THIS!" He yelled triumphantly, holding it straight out in front of him.  
"This! This is what I'm looking for, this..," He searched the label not-so-inconspicuously, "Aspirin! I have a headache and you weren't here so being the Chairman I got it myself and now you are here so I'll leave you to your work bye!" He rushed off almost as fast as he had been speaking.

Maya would have been ready to question the situation if she hadn't been distracted by a student who had supposedly broken her wrist.

She never even noticed the other box Kaien had been holding.

* * *

Five days after the incident with Yuki and Aido, Maya is dreading his return from suspension. Without him to gawk over, most of the day class girls had been returning to their dorms when they were actually meant to. It was rather nice not to have to fight off hormonal teenage girls everyday, especially with Zero no where to be seen during disciplinary duty.  
But now Aido was back and, as if they had wrote it in their diaries, all the day class girls knew it.

"Good morning girls!" Called that familiar, cheery voice. Aido walked with his head held high, a smile on his face as well as in his eyes.  
"I missed you all!" He cooed. The crowd sighed together, desperately trying to force themselves past Yuki and Maya.

She hated to admit it but Aido actually made Maya laugh.  
He was one of the happiest people Maya had ever met.  
He had an air around him that made anyone it touched happy. Even when he made her job of keeping the day class girls at bay impossible, she couldn't help but smile.

* * *

A/N It's been a while since I have updated (sorry). I got a new job so I will most probably update weekends or on days off (if i'm lucky).

I hope everyone is enjoying the story so far :3 Ya'know I won't really know how you guys find it unless there's a couple of reviews, hintety-hint-hint :D

& I hope you don't mind the lack of Aido in this chapter. I don't want to rush anything, I want their relationship to seem real (as real as you can get with vampires ;])

& also, ALSO! I want to stress the fact that Maya's life doesn't revolve around Aido. So whilst he is going to be the main aspect of her life in the story, I don't want to neglect the other parts, like her relationship with Zero & others :)

ANYWAYS, I reckon I'm rambling. So remember to review because you're lovely :3


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

Maya wandered the school grounds alone. It was almost daylight and the night class students were all back in their dorms. Even Yuki and Zero were probably asleep in their beds by now. Well, maybe not Zero. As tired as she was herself, she couldn't sleep, she hadn't for days. The walking helped her feel a little better though. It helped to clear her head.  
The sun began to rise, illuminating the grounds in a soft, golden light. Maya took a step back to admire the view, a moment of beauty and peace was rare and greatly appreciated. Looking to her watch Maya saw that it was almost 6AM. Slowly she began to make her way back to the infirmary for the morning rush.

On the door to her office, Maya found a note from Kaien; '_Maya, my office at 7. Kaien._'. She let out a sigh. As much as she loved her brother he never usually asked her to his office for just a friendly chat. Though she was also quite relieved, she hadn't had chance to question him on his odd behaviour the other day and maybe she could talk to him about Zero too.

Seven sharp, Maya arrived at Kaien's office. A faint murmuring of voices could be heard from inside which abruptly stopped once she knocked on the door. Kaien answered, beckoning her inside.  
Upon entering Maya saw the last person she expected standing next to Kaien's desk. His wavy, jet black hair covering the patch over his right eye. His left, a piercing blue colour, looking straight at Maya. Toga Yagari. Kaien's life long friend and fellow vampire hunter. Once Maya's closest friend. She couldn't remember the last time she had seen Yagari. There was once a time when she saw him almost every day, now she seen him maybe a few times a year. Collecting her thoughts, Maya pulled her gaze from Yagari, taking a seat in front of Kaien's desk. Kaien himself sat down, giving the two in front of him an uneasy look.

'Maya, I asked you here because I've got a job I would like you to do.' Kaien said, rather formally for Maya's taste. All the while she could feel Yagari watching her, she kept her gaze firmly on Kaien.  
'Sure, Kaien.' She replied carelessly. 'It'd be nice for a change in routine around here, what's the job?' Kaien looked at her for a moment, fiddling with his hands nervously. Something told Maya that he didn't think she would find this change nice at all.  
'Well, I've brought Yagari in to be the night classes new Ethics teacher,' He replied. Maya gave him a puzzled look which he ignored. 'I want you to supervise his lessons. See the night class are used to you and, well, I'm not sure they're going to take to Yagari quite so well.' He forced a chuckle slightly, neither Yagari nor Maya joined in.  
'So basically,' Maya began, raising from her seat, turning slightly so she was now facing both men. 'Basically, you want me to baby sit Yagari and make sure he doesn't do anything stupid like get himself killed?' Both men were silent for a moment until Kaien nodded in a way that said, _pretty much yeah_.  
'Why are you even here?' She asked Yagari, turning to face him fully now. He continued to stare back appearing indifferent to the situation. 'I mean why are you really here?' She questioned, switching her gaze between both men. It made no sense to her why it had to be Yagari who was the new night class teacher.  
'Like I said Maya,' Kaien said, 'He's the new ethics teacher.' Maya stared at her brother who avoided her gaze. She knew he was hiding something, she'd had years to figure out when her brother lied and when he told the truth.  
'I'm sure he'd rather kill a bunch of vampires rather than teach them _Ethics_.' She spat. Maybe a little too aggressive but at the moment Maya didn't care too much. Yagari dropped his gaze to his feet, causing Maya to force herself to relax a little. She let out a deep sigh.  
'Alright,' She murmured softly, 'I'll do it, when's the first lesson.' She asked.  
'Excellent!' Exclaimed Kaien, clasping his hands together in delight. 'First thing tonight, don't be late.'

Maya nodded, retreating back to her office. Just as she shut the door she heard Kaien murmur to Yagari, 'Well that went better than I expected.' She couldn't help but laugh a little to herself in agreement.  
Barely halfway down the corridor, Maya heard fast paced footsteps approaching her from behind. She continued to walk, ignoring them, until a familiar hand landed on her shoulder, stopping her in her tracks. She turned slowly to face Yagari.  
You could almost feel the tension as they stood in the corridor. Yagari rubbed the back of his neck, opening his mouth every so often as if to speak, then stopping himself. Eventually he stumbled out a sentence.  
'It's good to see you again, Maya.' He said her name carefully, like he was trying not to break it. Maya smiled slightly towards him, his demeanour visibly relaxed as she did so.  
'You too.' She managed to mumble back, before going back on her way to her office.  
Yagari watched her until she was out of sight.

_ The forest surrounding her home was one of Maya's favourite places to be, especially during the spring. It was filled to burst with cherry blossoms of the most delicate pink colour which she loved. Though they looked much different now at night, illuminated by her campfire, she still loved it as much as usual. _  
_ Today had been a good day. Kaien had taken Yuki and Zero away for a few days, leaving Maya with Yagari. They had planned on spending the day training but ended up being side tracked by even the smallest of things. She had even convinced Yagari to let her teach him how to paint on a canvas, an activity which had quickly led to both of them being covered in paint, chasing each other around her home. _  
_ Neither of them could remember a time when they had laughed so much, when they had last had the chance to have a normal day. _  
_ At some point nearing dusk, Yagari had disappeared for a while, returning just as it was turning dark. He lead her out into the forest to a small clearing surrounded by cherry blossoms. In the clearing he had built a small fire and laid out two mats next to it. As she looked up she gasped softly, looking up the night sky was filled with more stars than she had ever seen before. This was the perfect spot. _  
_ Yagari was pleased with his efforts, especially since Maya was almost ecstatic. He watched her as she sat staring at the stars, clutching her knees to her chest. Noticing how her arms were shaking slightly in the cold, moving over to her mat he draped an arm over her shoulders, her head rested on his chest. _  
_ They sat like that for hours, just watching the stars in peaceful silence. Maya released herself from Yagari's grip, turning and pulling him into a deep kiss. _  
_ 'Thank you.' She whispered once they had parted. He pulled her close into a warm embrace, planting a kiss on the top of her head. _  
_They continued to watch the stars until the sun came up._

Yagari's first Ethics lesson had gone exactly how Maya had imagined. It was a complete train wreck. No one was really expecting it to be amazing though really. Yagari was no stranger to the night class, they knew who he was and what he did. Even if he only killed Level E vampires he still wasn't well received.  
He hung on, teaching a small introductory lesson, avoiding numerous remarks and even catching a knife at one point. Though a few of the night class students were her friends she was glad when Yagari called it a night.  
Aido gave her a rather cheery goodbye. Maya smiled back to him, this didn't go unnoticed by Yagari.

He swiftly left the classroom and began down the corridor, muttering to himself. Maya couldn't make out what he was saying but she made out the word '_vampire'_ a few times.  
As he rushed off Maya shouted a goodbye to him. He stopped, turning to face her. Unlike earlier when he had stopped her in the corridor he looked at her almost angrily. His eyes were glazed over as his gaze bore into her in the most unnerving way. Although he was quite far away Maya couldn't help but take a step back away from him.  
'Goodbye, _Maya-Chan_.' He said though gritted teeth, mimicking Aido's farewell to her.  
As he turned to walk away Maya noticed him pull something out of his jacket pocket. A small silver object, glinting in the moonlight. He raised the object to his lips, knocking his head back and taking a long drink before bounding off.  
Maya stood in the empty corridor, her gaze watching the spot where Yagari was stood.

* * *

I'm really sorry for how long this took. I've been really ill in hospital for quite a while so yeah, sorry :)  
Thank you reviewers :D I hope you like this chapter & I promise I will try my hardest to update more frequently


End file.
